Curriculum Overview

The human capacity to understand, influence, and appreciate others comes through Communication. The Communication Department endeavors to expand a student's range of verbal and nonverbal skills, to develop sensitivity for their appropriate use in different situations, and to nurture a Christian perspective on issues of power, influence, justice, freedom, creativity, and truth. The course work, advising, and cocurricular activities of the department assist students in becoming competent and ethically responsible communicators, as well as preparing them for future academic study, professional training, and lifelong learning.

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication requires at total of 32 hours:

  • 14 hours in core requirements including performance, theory, research, and senior capstone

  • 16 hours in a concentration, choosing from one of the following areas:

    Interpersonal Communication explores how meaning develops in messages within personal, social, and institutional relationships, as well as how patterns of human communication behavior contribute to Christian community.

    Media Studies helps students engage and contribute to the media environment - the world of symbols and meanings, texts and contexts, form and content - from a critical and cultural perspective.

    Rhetoric and Culture prepares students to construct oral messages (involving self presentation, verbal strategies, and non-verbal appeals) intended to influence specific audiences and cultures, and enables students to interpret culture critically and charitably.

    Theater explores the interaction of word, action, and symbol as essential ingredients in the collaborative process of making theater, and emphasizes creativity, imagination, and a personal aesthetic in the development of the whole person.

  • 2 hours of elective credit.

Minor in Communication
Requirements for a minor are 20 hours in Communication courses including COMM 201, which also meets the general education requirement, and 301 or 302.

Requirements for a theater minor are 20 hours in Communication courses including 201, which also meets the general education requirement. Beyond this, a theater minor would complete a 16-hour core, consisting of COMM 271, 272, 273, and 374.

More specific details of the Curriculum

Information on Communication program from the College Catalog.